Starter for internal-combustion engines.



-W. H. CARD & J. l. CUSHMAN.

APPLICATION HLED IULYZY, 1916.

Patented June 12, 1917.

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STARTER FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES.

Fro.

WILLIAM H. CARD AND JOSEPH J. CUSI-IllVIAN, 0F LOS'AINGELES, CALIFORNIA.

STARTER FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J 111 12, 1917,

Application filed July 27, 1916. Serial No. 111,599.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM H. CARD and Josnrrr J GUSHMAN, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Los Angeles,.in the coimty of Los Angelesand State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements inStarters for 111ternal-Com-.

bustion Engines, of which the following is a specification. a

This invention relates to an engine starter and particularly pertains toa starting device adapted to be used in connection withautomobileengines. 3

It isan object of this invention'to provide an engine starter which maybe simply mounted upon the crank shaft of the engine and which may bereadily operated from release of the operating member by the driver, andwill remain in it? disengaged position until the operating'member is.wilfully drawn to start 'theJcar; I

It is another object to provide a starter having few parts which areadapted to be assembled in an easy manner and which coact in performingtheir functions so that they arenot liable to become worn or to requirerepair.

1 Another object is to provide a simple and effective oiling system forthe starter whereby oil will be circulated to all the parts requiringlubrication and will be there retained. a I

It is a further object to provide a selfstarter which may be operatedwith small eflort and which is decidedly cheap in manufacturing costs. 1

Other objects will appear hereinafter. The invention .is illustrated byway of example in the accompanying drawings in which: f Figure 1 is aview in elevation illustrating the starter in its operative positionupon an engine shaft. V r

Fig. 2 is a view in horizontal section on the line 22 of Fig. 1 andillustrates the vital parts of the device in their starting pos1t1on. vi

Fig. 3 is a view in section. similar to Fig. 2 and illustrates thenormal disengaged positions of the vital parts of the device.

Fig. 4'is a view in plan illustrating in a diagrammatical manner thearrangement of parts andapplicatio'n of-the device as applied to anautomobile engine.

Referring to the drawings more particularly, 10 indicates the end of anautomobile crank shaft and is here shown as having a sleeve 11 mountedthereover and secured by a pin 12. This sleeve is formed with an annularshoulder at a point adjacent its outer end, said shoulder being formedwith a frusto-conical portion 141, the apex of which would theoreticallylie upon the longitudinal axis of the crank shaft and toward the body ofthe engine. An extension 15 is formed on the outer end of the sleeveportion 11 and isof a suitable diameter to receive the' hub of anordinary starting crank which is adapted to engage a starting pin 16.The frusto-conical portion 14 of the sleeve ,11 is encircled by andborne against byan annular split cup 17 V which is formed with aninternal conical face adapted to coincide .-with' the face of theportion 14:. This cuphas its ends formed with radially extending ears 18.and 19 which are spaced a short distancefrom each other and which maybe forced toward each other by means which will hereafter'b e described.The cup 17 is formed with a fiat end face which bears against the endface of an annular cone member 20, which is formed with a centrallboreadapted to passover the tubular portion of the sleeve 11. This cone hasan external frusto-conical face 21 converging at a point toward theengine and adapted to be pressed into engagement with a complementarycone-cup 22 formed in the outer end of a fan. pulley wheel 23 which issecured upon the engine shaft and over the tubularportionof the sleevel1 by'the pin 12." It is evident that the member 23 need not necessarilybe utilized. as a fan-pulley wheel but may be formed as a special cupfor the starter construction only.

As a means for lubricating the various cones and cupsand the sleeveuponwhich they rotate, grease pockets 24, and 25 are alternatelyarranged concentrically around and through the cone 20. The pockets 24extend entirely through the cone, and the pockets 25 extend a portion ofthe way through so that grease may 'be retained within the device andreadily distributed therethrough.

The cone 20 is formed with an extension plate 26 which extends outwardlyfrom the periphery of the cone in a radial manner and is provided with apivot pin 27 upon which an operating arm 28 is pivotally mounted. Thearm 28 is bent and has a substantially vertical portion 29 and ahorizontal portion 30, to the end of which a vertically extending link31 is pivotally secured upon a pin 32. The link 31 is formed with aperforation 33 within which the end of achainor cable 34 is secured.

The cable 34 affords connection between the starting device and adraw-bar 35 by which the operator manipulates the starting mechanism.This draw-bar preferably extends through an opening in the dash-board 36of the automobile and communicates with the upper end of a verticallypivoted simple lever 37 which is held by means of a pivot pin 38 uponthe frame of the car. 'One end of the chain 34 engages the lever at asuitable point along its length to provide the required leverage for thestarter, and thereafter passes around an idler pulley 39 from whence itis led to the link 31 of the arm 28. A spring 40 is secured to theoperating arm 28 and acts to retract the arm to a normal position afterhaving been pivotally moved by a pull upon the chain 34.

The split cup 17 is adapted to be contracted in the operation of thedevice by forcing the cars 18 and 19 toward each other. This isaccomplished by allowing the ear 19 to bear against a pin 41 rigidlysecured to the plate 26 and forming .an engaging lug 42 upon anextension of the operating arm 28 so that movement of the operatinglever in the direction of the arrow a will swing the lug 42 in a generaldirection to- Ward the pin 41 and will thereby bind the ears '18 and 19therebetween. A reinforcing link 43 connects the pivot pin '27 .and thepin 41 to aid in strengthening the device and to retain the movablemembers in their operative position. I

When the starter has been assembled as described and secured upon the.drive shaft in the proper manner, it may be operated as follows: i I

Assuming that the engine control valves are in proper position to causean explosion within the engine cylinders, the draw-bar 35 is drawn, 'bymeans of a suitable'handle, in the direction indicated by the arrowand'wi'll thereby swingth'e lever 37 upon its pivot 'to draw the chain34 and swing the i 1iQI1atingarm'28 upon the pivot 27 in the directionof the arrow This arm, when so swung, will force ears 18 and 19 of thecup 17 toward each other and thereby reduce the diameter of the cup andcause it to slide inwardly upon the frustoconical face 14 of theshoulder on the sleeve 11. This action will force the cone 21 into thecup 22 within the pulley 23 and bind them together f-ri'ctionally. Whenthese parts are thus locked, further movement of the chain 34 as itpulls the operatingarm 28 will swing the cone 2O and'the pulley 23 aportion of a revolution and as "the pulley is pinned to the shaft 10 ofthe engine it will also rotate. This rotation of the shaft is sufficientto properly start the engine under normal conditions and when the engineis slow in starting the operation may be repeated by reciprocating theha-r35 until an explosion occurs. In case of back lire within the enginethe cone 20 will slip upon its seat and thereby prevent dangerous shocksliable to be delivered to the operator as he holds the handle of thedraw-bar.

It will thus be seen that this starter is formed with few operativeparts and that it may be easily operatedto rotate an automobile enginecrank shaft while the operator is seated and that it further insuresagainst harm to the operator while starting,

1. In an engine starter,-the combination with an engine crank shaft, ofa starter sleeve secured thereon, a fixed clutch member securedthereover, a loose clutch member adapted to rotate upon and move alongsaid fixed member, means whereby the loose clutch member may be rotatedupon the, sleeve, a shoulder formed-at the outer end of said sleeve, andmeans acting between said shoulder and the loose clutch member andactuated by said clutch rotating means to force the. loose clutch memberinto engagement with the fixed member.

2. In an engine starter, the combination with an engine crank shaft, ofa fixed zclutch member having a cone-shaped recess one side thereof andconcentric with the crank shaft upon which it is secured, a loose clutchcone slidably mounted in relation to the cone-shaped recess, a sleeveupon vwhich said cone is adapted to rotate, an annular conical shoulderadjacent the outer end of said cone, a split conical cup adapted to bearbetween the conical shoulder and the "cone, means whereby the cone maybe" rotated, and means acting simultaneously with the rotation of thecone whereby the split conical cup will be contracted around the conicalshoulder and will act-to force the cone into engagement with the fixedclutch member to rotate the engine "shaft;

3. In an engine starter, the combination of an engine crank shaft, afixed clutch member thereon, a second clutch menib'er slidably mountedon said shaft, means loosely mounted on said shaft for moving saidsecond clutch member longitudinally along said shaft in frictionalengagement with said fixed clutch member, means pivoted to said looseclutch member for simultaneously actuating said first named means andimparting a partial rotation to said second clutch member, and resilientmeans tending to move said pivoted means into normal inoperativeposition.

4:. In an engine starter, the combination with an engine crank shaft, afixed clutch member thereon, a second clutch member slidably mounted onsaid shaft, means for moving said second clutch member longitudinallyalong said shaft in frictional engagement with said fixed clutch member,means for simultaneously actuating said first named means and impartinga partial rotation to said second clutch member, and means tending tomove said last named means into normal inoperative position.

5. In an engine starter, the combination with an engine crank shaft, afixed clutch member thereon, a second clutch member slidably mountedalong said shaft, means for moving said second clutch memberlongitudinally along said shaft in frictional engagement with said fixedclutch member, and means imparting a partial rotation to said secondclutch member.

6. In an engine starter, the combination with an engine crank shaft, afixed clutch member thereon, a second clutch member slidably mountedalong said shaft, and means for simultaneously moving said second clutchmember along said shaft in frictional engagement with said fixed clutchmember and for imparting a partial rotation to said second clutchmember, and means tending to move said last named means into normalinoperative position.

In testimony whereof We have signed our names to this specification.

WILLIAM H. CARD. JOSEPH J. CUSHMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

